370 
NATURE 
[August 20, 1885 
directed in such a manner thai it had a steep slope on the side 
of thesea. To secure this a wooden palisade was erected about 
120 metres away from the sea, all along the shore. The sand 
first struck against this in itsprogress, and fell at its foot, a portion 
of it escaping through the interstices left between the planks. 
The latter was carried some distance by the force of the wind, 
and fell, forming slight slopes, while the sand which fell at the 
foot of the palisade on the side near the sea formed a steep 
incline. Soon this reached the top of the palisade, and then 
the planks were drawn up by means of a special implement 
to the needed height, and the formation continued as before, 
the slope on the side of the sea growing steeper, while the 
other got more and more gentle. Ultimately the dune reaches 
such a height (generally 10 to 12 metres) that the sand can 
no longer get over it, and it is definitely arrested between 
the barrier and the sea. It falls back on the shore, unable to 
advance, until contrary winds come and blow it out to sea again. 
To fix the sand on the other side of the barrier, the Arwndo 
arenaria is planted, The roots penetrate to a depth of 4 or 5 
metres, and the plant always keeps its head above the increasing 
sand, The results obtained by this new dune (says M. Cham- 
brelent) have been complete. The most violent storms have not 
been able to carry the sand over it ; the latter has fallen back on 
the shore innocuous, and the advance of the inexhaustible sand 
coming from the sea has been absolutely arrested. 
THE additions to the Zoological Society’s Gardens during the 
past week include a Common Camel (Camelus dromedarius & ) 
from Egypt, presented by Major Frank Graves ; a Shag (/hada- 
crocorax graculus), from Ireland, presented by Capt. F. H. 
Salvin ; a Common Stoat (AZustela ermina), British, presented by 
Mr. H. Hanauer; a Common Chameleon (Chameleon vulgaris), 
from North Africa, deposited ; a Spotted-tailed Dasyure (Dasyure 
maculata 6), two Yellow-footed Rock Kangaroos (Petrogale 
xanthopus § 2), from South Australia, received in exchange ; a 
Coquerel’s Lemur (Chetrogalens cogueral:), an Elliot’s Pheasant 
(Phasianus eliot?), a Bar-tailed Pheasant (Phastanus reevest), 
four Long-fronted Gerbilles (Gerbillus longifrons), bred in the 
Menagerie. 
GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 
M. VIOLET D’AOUEsT read a note at a late meeting of the 
Geographical Society of Paris on aérial formations on the soil. 
Referring to Richthofen’s discovery of a vast aérial formation 
of loess in China, M. d’Aouest described ‘‘ meteoric formations ” 
which he had himself examined in Mexico. In 1857 he made 
a communication on this subject to the Society ; he found in the 
flanks of the most elevated mountains argillaceous deposits, 
which could not be attributed to decomposition of the rocks 
there, or to the alluvion deposited by rivers, or by the rain. He 
referred them after investigation to atmospheric currents. In 
the day the winds raised the particles from the plains and 
carried them at night to the hills, depositing them there. In 
course of time these deposits had reached a thickness of thirty 
to fifty and in places a hundred metres. The upper part, 
which was generally finer, stopped at the limit of herbaceous 
vegetation, for beyond this there was nothing to retain the 
particles, which were carried down by rains, glaciers, snow, or 
winds to the lower part. Fifteen years later he heard of 
Richthofen’s publication on the subject, and Col. Prjevalsky 
during his late journeys in Thibet states that analogous aerial 
deposits are now being formed under the influence of powerful 
winds which prevail at these altitudes. Subsequently M. d’Aouest 
met Baron Richthofen and discussed the subject with him, 
when the latter stated that these formations exist in Europe, 
adding that it was singular how men, unknown to and far 
removed from each other, could be led to make the same dis- 
coveries in wholly different regions. M. d’Aouest now intends 
publishing a translation of Richthofen’s monograph on the sub- 
ject, with a supplemen: of his own containing a number of im- 
portant documents which he has collected on these deposits. 
He thinks he will be able to explain loess and argillaceous 
deposits, the origin of which has hitherto been regarded as 
problematicai, by this theory. 
THE Sollettino of the Italian Geographical Society for July prints 
two inedited letters of early Italian adventurers in South America, 
recently brought to light in the Archives of Florence and Modena. 
The longer and more important, dated Dec. 24, 1534, is addressed. 
from Valenzuela (Venezuela) by a certain Tomaso Fiaschi 
to his brother in Florence. After mentioning the prepara- 
tory arrangements made for an expedition of 800 men organised 
for the purpose of seeking gold in the Orinoco basin, the 
writer—one of the party—describes the country, the appear- 
ance and customs of its inhabitants, the nature of the 
soil, its climate, animal and vegetable productions. The 
success of the enterprise, which, nevertheless is known to have 
ended in failure, is anticipated, because the natives ‘‘are so 
bestial and have so little understanding that they think man and 
horse one and the same thing, and have so much dread of said 
horses that they die of fear, and one horseman is worth a 
thousand Indians, and they also greatly dread the blunderbusses, 
as to them a strange thing it seems to see men dying and not 
not know from what ; so that if they were a hundred and saw 
four or six of them die, all would take to flight like beasts. And 
so we shall go to said conquest in the name of God.” Further 
on the men are said to take ‘* one or two wives as best seems to 
them, and when they don’t like them they leave them and take 
others, and the brother the sister, though true it is mother does 
not take son, but there are places where they heed nothing 
and are like the beasts, and worship the sun and moon. And 
they have a kind of cotton with which they make beautiful 
things to their fancy, as cloths, which the women wear in front 
and certain cayzach (hammocks), in which they sleep, which are 
the length of a man, and are attached to two stakes in their 
houses. Here no grano (wheat ?) nor wine is made, but instead 
of grano they have a certain thing which they call mazze, which 
they sow the whole year, and which springs up and grows high 
in two months ; and likewise they sow certain ceca, which they 
call fatatfa, and it has a very large dara (root), and said barba 
" cooked in the ashes, and it has the same taste as the chestnut, 
( , 
A project for the compilation of a detailed topography of 
Italy during the Roman domination will engage the attention of 
the Italian Historical Congress which meets at Turin next 
month. 
A Revrer telegram from Brussels, dated August 12, says 
that, according to a message from Madeira in the Zrdépendance 
Belge, the Marquis Buonfanti, the celebrated explorer, and M. 
cay chief of the Equator station, have died on the Upper 
ongo. 
THE current number (Band xii. Nos. 5 and 6) of the 
Verhandlunyen der Gesellschaft fiir Erdkunde zu Berlin con- 
tains a paper by Herr Bandelier on the border lands of ths 
United States and Mexico, in which he describes the territoriee 
of New Mexico and Arizona and the Mexican States of Sonora 
and Chihuahua, their climate, hydrography, topography, flora, 
fauna, ethnography, antiquities, &c. These subjects are touched 
rapidly and somewhat superficially, as Herr Bandelier delivered 
a lecture rather than reada paper. Dr. Hettner referred to his 
travels in the United States of Columbia. Our geographical 
knowledge of this region, he said, depends almost wholly on 
the surveys and description of the Italian Codazzi and the 
travels of Dr. Reiss and Dr. Stiibel, who visited Columbia in 
1867 and 1868 with the special purpose of studying the vol- 
canoes. ‘They visited the southern portion, and therefore Dr. 
Hettner decided, after having investigated the neighbourhood of 
Bogota, crossed the Central Cordilleras, and visited the Cauca 
valley, to direct his journeys to the Eastern Cordilleras, and to 
study the States of Cundinamarca, Boyaca, and Santander. He 
had intended originally to include Western Venezuela as far as 
Caracas in the undertaking, but this had to be ultimately 
abandoned. The paper gives a brief description of the country 
and its people, based on these journeys. Dr. Boas describes 
his journey in Baffin Land in 1883-84. This paper is accom- 
panied by a map showing the outline of the coast of Cumber- 
land Sound and the west coast of Davis Straits according to the 
English Admiralty charts and to the new survey of Dr. Boas. 
The discrepancies are very numerous and in some cases very 
considerable. Herr Wagner contributes a brief sketch of the 
life and geographical work of the late Prof. Zoppritz. 
